Gu Needs Rollins On A Roll Gonzaga Hopes Shooting Star Can Carry Team To Tourney Heights

Dan Fitzgerald doesn’t know whether his Gonzaga Bulldogs will have to dress for success at this weekend’s West Coast Conference men’s basketball tournament at Loyola Marymount’s Gersten Pavilion.

But he insists they at least pack for it.

“I’ve known some coaches who have only packed one suit for this thing, but not me - I’ve got three,” said Fitzgerald, who flew this morning with his fifth-seeded Bulldogs (15-11 overall, 8-6 in the WCC) to Los Angeles for Saturday’s 8 p.m. first-round matchup against fourth-seeded San Diego (16-10, 8-6).

“And I’m checking to make sure my guys have clothes for three days, too. I’ve told ‘em, ‘If any of you guys get down there with one suit, you’re staying at Loyola.”’

Obviously, confidence is at the root of the fashion statement Fitzgerald is trying to make. To win the single-elimination tournament and the WCC’s automatic berth to the NCAAs, a team must win three games in three days.

It’s a grueling test, but a grind Fitzgerald hopes his team can endure as it takes him on his final WCC tournament ride as GU’s head coach.

To survive, however, the Bulldogs must pack more than three changes of clothes. They need Lorenzo Rollins’ jump shot on board, as well.

Rollins leads the team in scoring with an average of 15.6 points per game. But aside from a brief 42-point outburst in back-to-back wins over Portland earlier this month, the 6-foot-4 senior guard has struggled with his shooting touch throughout the second half of the season.

During one nine-game stretch Rollins shot just 34.7 percent (43-124) from the field and 17.4 percent (8-46) from 3- point range.

And any hopes that he might have shot himself out of his funk with a splendid 19-for-25 effort in the two games against Portland were dashed when he was held to 10 points last weekend as GU closed its regular season with losses at Saint Mary’s (74-72) and Santa Clara (67-52) and plunged from first to fourth in the WCC standings.

Rollins was 4 for 18 from the field and 0 for 6 from 3-point range - startlingly low numbers for a pure shooter, who averaged 27.8 points a game as a sophomore at Tacoma Community College. But numbers for which freshman point guard Matt Santangelo takes most of the blame.

“Lorenzo does a lot of thing besides score for us,” Santangelo said. “But (his scoring) is a huge contribution, so we’ve got to find a way to get him the ball and get him untracked.

“I felt like I did a poor job, as the point guard, last weekend of getting him the shots he needed. Down the stretch, Lorenzo wasn’t as involved as he needed to be, and I shouldered the blame for that after the game.”

Rollins thinks Santangelo is being a little too hard on himself.

“Matt’s getting me the ball where I need to get it,” he said. “I got up 12 shots (against Saint Mary’s), which is about as many as I need to take. I just didn’t knock them down.”

Few people can relate to Rollins’ dilemma, because few have ever been able to fill up a basket like he can when he’s hot.

“It’s been tough on me mentally,” he admitted. “But my coaches and teammates have made it a lot easier to handle. They keep telling me, ‘Shoot the ball, shoot the ball,’ which shows they still have confidence in me.

“And that’s what I’m going to do, because I’ve got a shooter’s mentality.” Apparently, Rollins has masked his frustrations well.

“Lorenzo is an extremely confident man, and he’s never really seemed to have any problem with his (shooting) slump,” Santangelo said. “He always has that million-dollar smile on his face and he always looks like he’s having a good time out on the court. “

Fitzgerald has also been impressed with attitude and work ethic Rollins has maintained while fighting his shooting stroke. But he admits it will take more than a broad smile and a couple of fresh floor burns from Rollins for his Bulldogs to play past the weekend and into Monday’s 9 p.m. championship game.

San Diego has beaten the Bulldogs twice this season and comes into the tournament riding a five-game winning streak. Rollins scored 16 points in each of the two previous meetings and Fitzgerald hopes he is at least as productive this time.

“We’ve got to have him shooting it, we know that,” Fitzgerald said. “And he knows it, too. If he goes off this weekend, then we’ve got a chance.

“If he doesn’t … “

The Bulldogs can probably pack it in.

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